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Top Cow Pasture Project
(Project Code TCP 14)
Project design for the archaeological investigation of a possible
early medieval farmstead at Selside, Horton in Ribblesdale, North
Yorkshire
NGR SD7788 7593
Ingleborough Archaeology Group
December 2013
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Contents
Page
1. Introduction 3
2. Local archaeological context 10
3. Potential archaeological significance 11
4. Justification 14
5. Research aims and objectives 14
6. Methodology 15
7. Dissemination 18
8. Logistics 18
9. Staffing 19
10. Health and safety 19
11. Costings 19
12. References 20
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1. Introduction
1.1 Summary
This project design concerns proposed archaeological investigation of a site in Top Cow
Pasture at Selside in Upper Ribblesdale, involving geophysical and topographical surveying
followed by targeted excavation.
1.2 The site in question is sited 600m to the north-west of the hamlet of Selside (Fig. 1), just
west of a relatively modern dry stone wall dividing into two a field known as Top Cow
Pasture. The valley lies within Horton in Ribblesdale civil parish, within the south-western
sector of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
Fig.1 Site location. The star symbol marks the site. © Ordnance Survey
1.3 Upper Ribblesdale, between Horton in Ribblesdale and Ribblehead, is grounded on
Carboniferous Great Scar Limestone strata (Fig. 2), though to the east of the Settle-Carlisle
Railway and the B6479 road bedrock is masked by a thick veneer of glacial till, here part of
the area’s iconic drumlin field. West of the railway/road, limestone outcrops at or very close
to the surface, forming discrete expanses of limestone pavement at Top Cow Pasture
Rocks, Whit-a-Green Rocks and Long Churn. Further west, more or less above the 400m
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contour, Great Scar Limestone is overlain by alternating sequences of sandstone and
limestone, with some intermittent shale bands, all within the Carboniferous Yoredale Group.
Fig. 2 Solid geology (Source: Johnson 2008, 23).
The star symbol marks the project site.
1.4 The site in question lies at an altitude of 310m OD with the ground surface rising steeply
immediately west of the site to plateau at 330m OD above a prominent but broken limestone
scar, before rising more gently to Whit-a-Green. The ground surface is broadly level from the
excavation site towards the east, north and south. The valley of Upper Ribblesdale itself has
gently undulating topography dominated by the drumlin swarm.
1.5 Apart from Selside, the valley northwards and to the west of the Ribble is now very
sparsely populated with a thin scatter of farmsteads or former farmsteads at Lodge Hall,
Ashes, Colt Park and Gauber, with only the first named still a working farm.
1.6 Nowadays all of the Top Cow Pasture fields lie within the Ingleborough Site of Special
Scientific Interest (SSSI) and the Ingleborough National Nature Reserve (NNR), owned and
managed by Natural England, though the land here is grazed by a farmer based in Horton
village. It also lies within the Ingleborough Complex Special Area of Conservation (SAC).
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1.7 The site to be investigated is visible on the ground as two parallel rectangular structures,
a sub-rectangular structure, all with dwarf wall footings, and associated curvilinear stone-
banked wall lines (Fig. 3).
Fig. 3 General view across the Top Cow Pasture site, looking south-east
1.8 The site, centred on SD77877 75928, at an altitude of 314m, consists of two rectangular
structures (Features 1 and 2) adjacent to each other but not seemingly sharing a common
wall, at the foot of a steep slope immediately south of a track cut through rock outcrops; and
a sub-rectangular structure (Feature 3) 15m to the south-west of the twin structures Four
stone enclosure banks (Features 4 to 7) seem to be associated on the ground with the three
putative buildings, running out from the site (Figs. 4 and 5). One bank (Feature 4) runs for c.
150m from the north-east corner of the east structure (Feature 1) describing a highly sinuous
course to (seemingly) terminate in a shallow rectangular hollow at SD7803 7594.
Throughout, the wall line is visible as a low turf bank with a core of large limestone blocks
and recumbent slabs.
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Fig. 4 Enclosure bank (Feature 4) running north-east from the site, looking west towards the
main complex just beyond the modern wall
Another bank (Feature 5) runs from below the bluff on which Feature 3 sits describing a
sinuous course first south-eastwards but then curving south-westwards almost to the
southern boundary wall of Top Cow Pasture, seemingly terminating at SD7783 7579. It is
seen as a broad stone-cored turf bank and can readily be traced for a length of c. 100m.
Fig. 5 Enclosure bank (Feature 5) running south-west from the site, looking north-west
towards Feature 3 on the bluff beyond the modern wall
A third stone line (Feature 6) runs north-westwards and uphill from Feature 3 to the top of
the plateau where it appears to end. A fourth stone bank (Feature 7), seen as an almost
imperceptible line of limestone boulders, runs broadly parallel to the north and south
boundary walls of Top Cow Pasture – visible for less than 100m – more or less across the
centre of the modern field.
1.9 As stated above, the main complex – the farmstead or vaccary complex – contains three
structures which give every appearance of having been buildings, all with dwarf, double-skin
limestone walls (Fig. 6).
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Fig. 6 Sketch plan of the main complex.
A – rock-cut trackway, B – level platform,
C – dry valley, D – limestone bluff
1.10 Externally, the eastern structure (Feature 1) measures c. 18m on its long, NW-SE axis
by 7.6m on the short axis (Fig. 7). The western structure (Feature 2) lies parallel to it and
externally measures c. 16m by 6.5m (Fig. 8). Longitudinally, the two buildings are offset by c.
3m. The space between the two contiguous long walls is no more than 0.8m wide at the
greatest.
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Fig. 7 The eastern structure (Feature 1), looking WNW. A possible 1m-wide doorway in the
gable wall can be seen at the forefront of the picture
Fig. 8 The western structure (Feature 2), looking WSW
Both structures slope downhill with a difference of over 1m between the top and bottom
ends.
Feature 3, orientated south-east to north-west, measures 9m by 5.6m externally (Fig. 9) and
is sub-rectangular in plan form with dwarf wall lines less distinct than in Features 1 and 2.
1.11 The site was first recorded by the Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division in June 1964,
and was again picked up by the Yorkshire Dales Project aerial mapping programme between
1989 and 1992. It is currently recorded on the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority
(henceforth YDNPA) Historic Environment Record (HER) as monument number MYD3663,
notified as a ‘Medieval settlement and field system’ with an ‘extensive but fragmentary field
system and possible farmstead of probable medieval date, surviving as earthworks and
spread stone walls/banks’ (YDNPA. Full Report).
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Fig. 9 Feature 3, above the modern wall
1.12 Top Cow Pasture lies within an area that was formally enclosed by an agreement of
1789, implemented in 1791 (YAS. DD104). The area encompassed Selside Shaw, Shaw
Park and Lamb Pasture: Selside Shaw was the whole area west of Selside Shaw Old Lane
(now the B6479), then called Greystone Road, between Selside and Colt Park; Shaw Park
lay between the road, the river, and Selside running almost as far north as Lodge Hall; and
Lamb Pasture lay between North Cote farm and Borrins Moor Rocks. Prior to the award, the
three named components were individual stinted pastures with Top Cow Pasture covering
(at least) the area from Selside northwards to Stone House and westwards to Borrins Moor
Rocks. The external, curvilinear walls of the former cow pasture are historical features; the
rectilinear walls sub-dividing the cow pasture date from the 1789 award which allocated new
enclosures to ten existing gait holders. The award permitted those allocated land to get and
use stone from within the cow pasture for their own use, including building the new walls:
this probably accounts for the number and frequency of small workings across the rockier
parts of Top Cow Pasture.
1.13 It is proposed to undertake the excavation phase of the research project starting on 26
May 2014, initially running for two weeks to end on 7 June, but with no terminal date fixed:
this will depend on what potential the site reveals in the early stages of investigation, as well
as on prevailing weather conditions. However, it is not anticipated that it will run for more
than two weeks.
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2. Local archaeological context
2.1 Sites already recorded on the YDNPA HER are shown on Figure 10.
Fig. 10 HER plot for Selside (© YDNPA). Monument 3663 is the entire large blue-stippled
area
2.2 Sites currently recorded on the HER, within the general vicinity of the site to be
investigated, and as shown on Figure 10, can be summarised as follows:
Table 1 Monuments recorded on the YDNPA HER, November 2013
MYD number Monument
3662 settlement
3663 medieval settlement and field system
3666 late prehistoric settlement
39617 lime kiln
39672 prehistoric settlement
39673 field boundary
39674 enclosure
39675 enclosure
39676 trackway
39677 field boundary
39678 field boundary
39679 cairn
39681 field boundary
39682 field boundary
39684 quarry
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2.3 Monument 3662 (Whit-a-Green), a complex site with small enclosures and field banks, is
a Scheduled site that has no apparent physical connection on the ground with the site
(3663) proposed for excavation. It is also quite different morphologically: 3663 is dominantly
rectangular if plan form whereas 3662 has more rounded structures.
2.4 For further discussion of archaeological sites in Upper Ribblesdale, see King and
Simpson (2011).
3. Potential archaeological significance
3.1 Comparative sites
3.1.1 The most well known rectangular structure to have been investigated in the western
part of the Yorkshire Dales is the enigmatic Gauber farmstead that has typically been
described as being of the Viking period, though the only firm dating evidence was three
coins minted in the AD 860s in the Anglian kingdom of Northumbria (King 1978a, 1978b,
2004). More recent scholars have questioned the Viking provenance for Gauber suggesting
instead that such sites should be ‘more correctly attributed to the regional diversity
indigenous to the later Anglo-Saxon England ...’ (Thomas 2012, 57; and see Ryan 2013,
291-92)).
3.1.2 In a different vein, Roberts (1993, 445) bemoaned the tendency to attribute sites to the
Iron Age or Romano-British periods in years before radiocarbon dating results were available
which placed them within early medieval centuries. Such attributions have certainly been
made in Upper Ribblesdale, though here dating evidence to contradict or support them is still
lacking.
3.1.3 MYD3662 was given a Romano-British date by the Ordnance Survey field investigator
who surveyed this area but the basis on which this attribution was made is, as yet, unknown.
Attempts will be made during the project to resolve this issue.
3.1.4 A number of other sites with rectangular structures have been recorded from field
walking. These include two early medieval farmsteads in Clapham Bottoms (Batty 2010); a
number of sites in Kingsdale including the medieval house site excavated and dated in 2005
by the Ingleborough Archaeology Group (IAG) (Batty 2007, 47-59); two discrete farmsteads
on Brows Pasture at Chapel le Dale, excavated in 2012 (Johnson 2013 and forthcoming);
and, most recently, two discrete farmstead sites excavated by IAG in 2013 in Crummack
Dale (Johnson in prep). There is also the documented so-called deserted medieval
settlement at Southerscales near Chapel-le-Dale which contains the earthwork remains of
six potentially discrete units: this sits on the opposite side of the valley to the two Brows
Pasture sites and at roughly the same altitude. Documentary evidence first records
Southerscales as a vaccary in 1202-08 and again in a grant to Furness Abbey in 1250-51
and in a post-Dissolution rental of 1536-38 (see, for example, Brownbill 1916, 325-26, 334-
35). Excavation of the Brows sites has been written up as a full archaeological report
(Johnson 2013) and historical aspects of Brows and Southerscales will appear in the
proceedings of a day conference on the Medieval Dales held in October 2012 (Johnson
forthcoming): this discusses the possibility that the so-called Southerscales DMS is actually
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of early medieval date and the reality that the Brows sites are of Anglo-Saxon-period
provenance.
3.1.5 Elsewhere in the Dales an isolated structure above Gunnerside, several on Malham
Lings and two on the eastern flanks of Highfolds at Malham Tarn (Raistrick and Holmes
1962, 91-92) all have broadly similar rectangular ground plans, though with considerable
variation in dimensions. However, it is probable that morphological records for unpublished
sites and structures do exist, and they may indicate more structures of a similar nature
elsewhere in the Dales. Analysis of MORPH records, to this end, will form part of this
Project’s grey literature trawl.
3.1.6 A site excavated by the Sedbergh and District Historical Society in the mid 1990s at
Crosedale Beck in the Howgills (NGR SD647 939) noted two small rectangular structures,
one of which was excavated and found to be c. 10m by 5m in size (Howard-Davis, Hair and
Newman 1996; Hair and Newman, 1999). Pottery dated the site to between the late 12th and
the 14th centuries.
3.1.7 A much smaller than average rectangular structure was investigated using
archaeological methods, by members of the IAG in 2011, in Upper Pasture between Sulber
and Borrins-Gill Garth, at SD77665 74103 (Johnson et al. 2012). Radiocarbon dating of
charcoal samples from a sealed context proved this to have been in use between AD 660
and 780, with the greatest probability having been AD 665 to 715. These dates sit within the
early Anglo-Saxon period and the structure was interpreted as a late British survival, a
probable shieling associated with transhumant stock management.
3.1.8 Archaeological evidence of probable medieval field systems – lynchets or ridge and
furrow – and farmsteads across the Dales is well documented and highly visible on the
ground as earthworks (White 2002, 69-71; Moorhouse 2003, 199; Dennison 2004, 31).
Particularly fine ridge and furrow networks were identified in the Ribble valley, between
Studfold and Horton in Ribblesdale; and Rathmell and Wigglesworth, by LiDAR survey
(Newman 2008, 11), while subtle vegetation changes and light snow cover can also reveal
such systems.
3.2 Potential significance
3.2.1 There has been a lack of agreement within the archaeological community concerning
the differentiation on the ground between early medieval and medieval farmsteads, largely
owing to a lack of detailed archaeological investigations of such features, especially in the
North West (see, for example, Newman 2005, 206-08, 211; Silvester 2010, 141; Thomas
2012, 49, 59; Wrathmell 2012, 259). As stated earlier, many sites within the Yorkshire Dales
have long been assumed to have been Romano-British sites, often with no direct evidence
of dating, partly the result of work undertaken by Arthur Raistrick on sites which arguably
yielded too few pot sherds to enable meaningful conclusions to be drawn. There is, however,
a growing and very recent corpus of evidence of pre-Conquest settlement within the general
Ingleborough area, as shown in Table 2.
3.2.2 Surveying of earthwork remains in south Cumbria has tentatively ascribed most of 16
‘longhouses’ to the ‘mid-late medieval’ period though none of the sites was dated by
excavation or artefacts; rather assumptions were largely based on plan form
(duddonhistory.org) which is perhaps a premature judgement to make.
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Table 2 Dated early medieval sites within the Ingleborough area
* There is doubt as to whether these finds were from a secure stratigraphic context.
3.2.3 Excavation of the Top Cow Pasture site will provide the opportunity to investigate in
detail a further putative farmstead complex with double rectangular structures, possibly
constructed of timber set on ‘dwarf’ stone walls, with associated field banks, set in a
sheltered location at the foot of a limestone bluff. This project will add to the still scant but
growing body of detailed investigations of early medieval/medieval structures within the
Dales, and may offer opportunities for dating the structures and setting them within the
chronology of post-Roman and pre- or post-Conquest settlement and activity within the
western part of the Dales. This proposed excavation is seen as a logical progression from
recent investigations of early medieval sites in Upper Pasture near Sulber (Project code UP
11), Brows Pasture at Chapel-le-Dale (Project code EK12) and Crummack Dale (Project
code CRD13), aimed at testing the hypothesis that rectangular structures with dwarf stone
Location NGR SD
Radiocarbon date
Artefact dating Date obtained
Source
Clapham Bottoms
7587 7203
760-900 cal AD at 77.7% prob.
2010 Batty 2010
Clapham Bottoms
7569 7183
530-670 cal AD at 93.9% prob.
early medieval sword blade
2010 Batty 2010
Brows Pasture
7336 7712
642-766 cal AD at 95.4% prob.; and 653-772 cal AD at 95.4% prob.
Knife tang, poss. Anglo-Saxon
2012 Johnson 2103
Brows Pasture
7328 7715
692-887 cal AD at 95.4% prob.; 707-892 cal AD at 94.5% prob.; and 710-895 cal AD at 94.2% prob.
early medieval angle-back knife blade
2012 Johnson 2013
Crummack Dale
7771 7240
760-900 cal AD at 88.8% prob.
Anglo-Saxon or Anglo-Scandinavian spearhead
2011 Batty 2012
Crummack Dale
7763 7247
Anglo-Saxon girdle hanger
2011 Batty 2012
Crummack Dale
7758 7270
782-988 cal AD at 95.4% prob.
(tooth collagen) 2013 Johnson in prep
Crummack Dale
7758 7270
780-972 cal AD at 95.4% prob.
(tooth enamel) 2013 Johnson in prep
Crummack Dale
7758 7270
881-1014 cal AD at 95.4% prob.
(bone collagen) 2013 Johnson in prep
Crummack Dale
7772 7240
730-943 at 95.4% cal AD prob.
2013 Johnson in prep
Upper Pasture
7766 7410
660-780 cal AD at 95.4% prob.; 665-715 at 46.25 & 670-715 cal AD at 44.2% prob.
2011 Johnson 2012
Gauber High Pasture
765 784
3 styca coins from AD 860s
1974-76 King 1978*
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walls of the type seen on those sites can be ascribed to the early medieval, or Anglo-Saxon,
period rather than to the Romano-British or post-Conquest periods.
4. Justification
4.1 The argument put forward in justification of the proposed excavation can be summarised
as follows: the morphology of the two rectangular structures gives the appearance of their
being early medieval in date, and they appear to be associated with field banks that could be
coeval and are recorded on the HER as such. As seen through the turf, these structures
appear very similar to those excavated in Brows Pasture and Crummack Dale which both
proved a suite of pre-Conquest radiocarbon dates. However, Selside was recorded in 1292
as a monastic vaccary belonging to Furness Abbey and was known then as Selseth. In an
estate valuation it was recorded thus: Item habent unam vaccariam quae vocatur Selseth
which translates as ‘Also, they have one vaccary (cow farm complex) which is called
Selseth’ (Atkinson 1887, 635).
4.2 As discussed earlier, there is a dearth of firmly dated sites from the medieval and early
medieval periods in this part of the Dales and detailed examination of the sites in question is
likely to add significantly to the understanding and chronology of medieval rural settlement,
and of the detailed morphology of structures investigated. In order to develop a working
model of post-Roman rural settlements in the western Dales it is important to have detailed
information from a range of geographically dispersed sites. Proven radiocarbon dates
obtained from the two Brows Pasture farmstead sites, two of the three Crummack Dale
farmstead sites, and the Upper Pasture shieling site suggest hitherto unproven early
medieval settlement and activity in the Ingleborough area away from established townships
(now civil parishes and villages) bearing Anglo-Saxon place-names such as Horton,
Ingleton, Stainforth and Langcliffe. Isolated settlement has now been confirmed from the
Anglo-Saxon era to the north-west and south of the Ingleborough massif, and a seasonally-
occupied shieling hut from the eastern side: excavation of the Top Cow Pasture site could
either confirm pre-Conquest non-nucleated settlement at Selside or monastic occupation as
a 13th-14th-century vaccary.
4.3 Examination of the Top Cow Pasture site is considered a logical progression from the
other dated sites in that it may confirm that sites with such rectangular structures and stone-
built dwarf walls across the entire Ingleborough area can be ascribed to the early medieval
era, or – if the Top Cow Pasture site returns post-Conquest dates – that this morphological
type continued in use throughout the early medieval and medieval periods.
5. Research aims and objectives
The rationale of the project will be furthered by investigating the following:
5.1 the relationship between the various structures and the field banks/wall lines. Is it
possible to identify if these ancillary features were broadly contemporary with the main
complexes, forming a coeval integrated farm management unit.
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5.2 the structures’ ground plans and detailed internal morphology, including walls, with the
aim of determining constructional methods and materials. For example, were the internal
floors earthen, paved or set on bedrock; were the walls built in one constructional phase;
were the surviving walls the base for supporting a timber or a turf superstructure; are there
any central roofing postholes, is there a communicating doorway from one building to the
other, and can external thresholds be identified?
5.3 the original function of the complex. Was it a permanently occupied farmstead or a
summer shieling, or a part of a vaccary complex?
5.4 other ground features: are there other features already recorded in the wider area
around Selside that may have been related to the site, such as water sources, trackways,
and other stone-built features at a slightly higher level to the west?
5.5 LiDAR imagery shows a pattern of parallel corrugations running broadly east-west
across Top Cow Pasture east of the modern dividing wall, though quick field walking on 4
December 2013 failed to identify them on the ground. The width of these corrugations seems
to conform to typical crest-to-crest widths of medieval ridge and furrow systems, so this will
be examined more closely by field surveying during the project.
5.6 dating evidence. Assuming that the complex was a farmstead or vaccary, does it have
surviving hearths with charcoal deposits suitable for AMS radiocarbon dating (or any other
suitable method of dating such as ceramics) thereby enabling the site to be fitted into the
assumed chronology of settlement in the western Dales based on other investigated sites as
discussed earlier?
5.7 if the evidence is found, environmental samples will be obtained from within the vicinity
to enable examination of pollen and soil mineral composition. This would help in the
reconstruction of past environments here.
5.8 beyond these practical and research issues, the project will also aim to further the
practical skill set of participants, to extend their knowledge of sites such as this one, and to
make available to the wider general public and to researchers the results of this investigation
by adding to the growing corpus of published material on similar archaeological sites in the
Ingleborough area.
5.9 As the site lies within the civil parish of Horton in Ribblesdale, which has its own History
Group, links will be established to draw its membership into the project at all stages.
6. Methodology
6.1 Desk-based assessment
Apart from what has been noted above, very little published or grey material has been
located that is of direct relevance to the locality but an archival and grey material trawl will be
undertaken as part of the overall project. Detailed documentary and cartographic research
will also form an integral part of the work to be undertaken. Horton History Group will be
approached to determine if they have the capacity to offer help in this respect; if not, it will be
performed by IAG members.
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6.2 Geophysical surveying
Geophysical surveying – magnetometry – of the site will be undertaken prior to excavation
with the aim of surveying the three recognised structures and the area between and around
them. The level platform close to the site will also be examined geophysically.
6.3 Topographical surveying
Mapping of visible archaeological features, using a mapping-grade Thales MobileMapper
hand-held GPS, will be carried out across Top Cow Pasture, at a scale of 1:1000. A tape-
and-offset plan will be drawn of the immediate site as part of the project, at a scale of 1:250,
prior to the actual excavation, following English Heritage guidelines (English Heritage 2010,
6-7).
6.4 Excavation
6.4.1 The excavation phase of the project is designed to take account of the demands of
conservation of the archaeological resource being investigated, and of possible future
research on the site, and of the needs of training and community participation. The
archaeological integrity of the structures will be maintained by spatially limiting the extent of
excavation of structural features. The following excavation programme is envisaged, though
what will actually be undertaken will depend on prevailing weather conditions and available
manpower, as well as on the results of geophysical surveying. Trenches will be opened on a
phased basis rather than having all in operation at the same time. It is stressed that the
trench options listed here are provisional and may change.
a. Trench 1 will be laid out where the wall bank (Feature 4) appears under the turf to tie in
with the walls of Feature 1, designed to test the hypothesis that the two are coeval, and to
examine the structure of the field bank.
b. Trench 2 will be laid out across the contiguous walls of Features 1 and 2, designed to take
in parts of both side walls, with the possible common doorway, and to see if a floor surface
can be determined.
c. Trench 3 will be laid out across the south-eastern end of Feature 1 to take in that end of
both side walls, a possible entrance in that gable and the adjacent floor surface, if present.
d. Trench 4 will be laid out across one corner of Feature 3, the sub-rectangular structure, to
determine its form and structure and to seek evidence of an occupation surface.
6.4.2 Procedures
a. turf and top soil will be removed by hand and will be stored on Visqueen sheeting. No
wheelbarrows or machinery will be used.
b. each trench will be photo-cleaned, photographed and planned using 1m x 1m planning
frames at intervals as determined by excavation.
c. excavation will be furthered using hand-trowels with planning and photography as
necessary until a structural basal surface is identified. A detailed photographic record will be
compiled and archived.
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d. proforma Context recording sheets will be compiled as per IAG’s normal practice.
e. any artefacts will be given a small finds number and logged and bagged according to best
practice for post-excavation analysis.
f. Should any obviously modern items be unearthed during excavation, such as modern shot
cartridges or sheep carcasses (as found within the UP11 excavation), the retention/discard
policy will be to record them as objects in the site book but not to assign individual small
finds numbers, and not to physically retain them in the project archive.
g. all trenches will be backfilled and the turf relaid on completion of the excavation phase.
Undertaking the excavation in late spring will give time during the summer for the turf to knit
and grow. Monitoring over the summer will ensure stock disturbance is minimised.
h. a site book will be maintained.
6.5 Botany
A botanical species list will be drawn up within the relevant part of Top Cow Pasture.
6.6 Post-excavation
The following procedures will be followed:
6.6.1 A full project archive will be compiled. A copy of the archive will be deposited, by
agreement, with the Dales Countryside Museum in Hawes.
6.6.2 Full post-processing and analysis will be undertaken as necessary by those with the
requisite professional skills, including environmental sampling, finds examination and
radiocarbon dating of any suitable materials recovered. Environmental sampling will include
XRF analysis for mineral content in any soil samples that are identified as being worthy of
such examination during the excavation process. Species identification of any charcoal
samples logged, together with laboratory preparation of samples suitable for radiocarbon
dating, will be undertaken as a matter of course. Finds that may be recovered could include
bone, metal objects or ceramics. Oxford Archaeology North (OAN), in Lancaster, will be the
initial point of contact for laboratory examination of artefacts and ecofacts. Radiocarbon
dating will be undertaken by the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre
(SUERC) in East Kilbride. Conservation work on artefacts will be undertaken, as necessary,
by Karen Barker of Antiquities Conservation Service in Co. Durham.
6.6.3 A detailed Data Structure Report (DSR) will be compiled to include full details of all
stages of the project, including photographs and plans.
6.6.4 Should any artefacts be recovered, and unless Natural England wishes to retain
ownership, they will be deposited with a local museum – either the Craven Museum in
Skipton or the Dales Countryside Museum in Hawes – after consultation with Natural
England and the YDNPA.
6.6.5 All results will be submitted for inclusion in the YDNPA HER.
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7. Dissemination
7.1 Hardcopies of the final project report will be given to:
Natural England as landowners, Mr Keith Middleton of Horton in Ribblesdale, the grazier; the
YDNPA; the Yorkshire Archaeological Society; Horton History Group; and Skipton Reference
Library.
7.2 Results of the project will be disseminated to external audiences after consultation with
the landowners. The extent and nature of this will depend on the significance attached to the
findings. Each member of the surveying and excavation teams will be entitled to purchase a
copy of the report. Wider dissemination could take the form of a short report for the Council
for British Archaeology Yorkshire’s annual Forum journal. Talks to local groups and the
YDNPA’s annual Archaeology Day may also be appropriate, if requested. Display panels will
be prepared for use at the annual Festival of British Archaeology and in exhibitions at local
venues and the annual Yorkshire Dales Archaeology Day.
7.3 Results and a copy of the final project report will be uploaded to IAG’s website and a
volunteer will be sought to compile a daily blog during the life of the project.
7.4 Beyond the website, advice will be sought from the YDNPA on which digital formats are
most appropriate for spreading the word.
7.5 Workshops, as appropriate, will be offered to the general public, to be held in Horton
Village Hall, before and after the excavation phase. Details of these will be formulated in due
course.
7.6 It is also the intention, should the site prove to be early medieval in date, to compose a
synoptic article on current knowledge of and evidence for pre-Conquest settlement in the
Ingleborough/south-west Dales area, culling the results of this project and those based on
Upper Pasture (UP11), Brows Pasture (EK12) and Crummack Dale (CRD13), together with
relevant spot finds from elsewhere in the region. This will be submitted to a peer-reviewed
academic journal.
8. Logistics
8.1 The site lies on land that is owned by Natural England and grazed from Horton in
Ribblesdale so full recognisance will be given to their demands, and to the integrity of this
part of the Ingleborough SSSI, the Ingleborough Complex SAC and the Ingleborough NNR.
8.2 In view of the area’s SSSI, NNR and SAC designations, derogation from Natural England
will be required and will be applied for.
8.3 IAG has always maintained the policy of working closely with the YDNPA, so close
liaison with the Authority’s Senior Historic Environment Officer is a given.
8.4 Motorised access will be restricted to one 4-WD vehicle to take equipment to and from
the site. All participants will enter on foot.
19
8.5 It will be necessary to erect two tents to act as mess tent, emergency shelter and
overnight tool store. These will be pitched away from the excavation site to minimise their
potential impact on hidden or visible archaeological features.
8.6 IAG intends to rent the Leeds University bunkhouse (Selside Bungalow) at the bottom of
Top Cow Pasture for toilet and wet weather shelter, and as a secure base. Parking at the hut
will be permitted by Natural England.
8.7 As Top Cow Pasture has permissive access on foot, casual visits by members of the
public will be allowed. Access procedures, and the rationale behind them, will be notified on
the IAG website and as a posted notice at the car parking area at the Leeds Hut (Selside
Bungalow).
9. Staffing
9.1 To meet the criteria for Lottery funding, the project will be opened up to the wider
community and the hope is that it will be possible to attract a junior element: to further this
aim, the assistance of James Spry, Community Archaeology Training Placement Holder with
the YDNPA will be sought.
9.2 It is hoped that participation will be found from Horton History Group and other residents
of Upper Ribblesdale, as well as from the normal cohort of IAG members. It is also the
intention to invite members from the Yorkshire Dales Young Archaeologists Club and from
Horton Primary School.
10. Health and Safety
10.1 Full and due regard will be given to the safety of participants and permitted visitors, and
the health and safety policy will be in accordance with standard archaeological procedures.
Briefings will be given as necessary to all participants, with training as and when required. A
site incident book will be kept and a first aid kit will be kept on site by the appointed First
Aider. A full risk assessment will have been completed prior to work on site. No trench will
reach depths where shoring is required.
10.2 IAG has full liability insurance.
11. Costings
11.1 IAG possesses all the equipment needed for the surveying and excavation elements of
the project and no significant equipment costs are anticipated, other than consumables. If
any material suitable for radiocarbon dating is recovered or if any environmental material is
found, then costs will be incurred. Post-excavation analysis of any artefacts or ecofacts will
also incur costs, as will publication of the results.
11.2 IAG intends to submit an application for Lottery funding if derogation from Natural
England is forthcoming.
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12. References
Archival sources
North Yorkshire County Record Office (NYCRO).
Yorkshire Archaeological Society (YAS). DD 104. Horton-in-Ribblesdale deeds. Inclosure
Award. Selside Shaw, Shaw Park and Lamb Pasture in Horton 1791.
Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority. Monument Full Report 7 October 2013. SMR
Number MYD3663.
Secondary sources
Atkinson, J.C. 1887, The Coucher Book of Furness Abbey. Part 2. Chetham Society vol. 14.
Batty, A. and A. 2007, The Kingsdale Head Project. Ingleton: Ingleborough Archaeology
Group.
Batty, A. 2010. Archaeological remains in Clapham Bottoms.
www.ingleborougharchaeology.org.uk.
Batty, A. 2012. Archaeological research in Crummack Dale.
www.ingleborougharchaeology.org.uk.
Brownbill, J (ed.). 1916, Coucher Book of Furness Abbey, vol. II, Pt. 2. Chetham Society
New Series 76.
Dennison, E. 2004, ‘An historical landscape survey: the Swinithwaite Estate, West Witton’ in
R F White and P R Wilson (eds.) Archaeology and historic landscapes of the Yorkshire
Dales. Yorkshire Archaeological Society Occasional Paper No. 2, pp. 25-37.
Duddon Valley Local History Group. 2013, ‘Longhouses in the Duddon Valley, Cumbria’.
www.duddonhistory.org.uk/longhouse.php accessed 29 October 2013.
English Heritage. 2010, Understanding the archaeology of landscapes. A guide to good
recording practice. Swindon: English Heritage Publishing.
Hair, N, and Newman, R. 1999, ‘Excavation of medieval settlement remains at Crosedale in
Howgill’ Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological
Society 99, pp. 141-58.
Howard-Davis, C., Hair, N and Newman, R. 1996, ‘Excavations at Crosedale Beck in
Howgill’ 3, pp. 2-13.Sedbergh Historian
Johnson, D. 2008, Ingleborough. Landscape and history. Lancaster: Carnegie Publishing.
Johnson, 2013, Excavation of two early medieval farmsteads on Brows Pasture, Ingleton,
North Yorkshire. Kettlewell: Yorkshire Dales Landscape Research Trust.
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Johnson, D. forthcoming, ‘An historical survey in the Manors of Ingleton and Twisleton-and-
Ellerbeck: piecing together the evidence’ in Martlew, R.D. (ed.) Medieval Studies in the
Yorkshire Dales. Kettlewell: Yorkshire Dales Landscape Research Trust, pp. 27-45.
Johnson, D (ed.). in prep. The Crummack Dale Project: excavation of two early medieval
farmsteads and a medieval lime kiln.
Johnson, D, Price, J, Russ H and Sergeant, H. 2012. Excavation of an early medieval
structure in Upper Pasture, Horton in Ribblesdale, North Yorkshire. Ingleton: Ingleborough
Archaeology Group.
King, A, 1978a. ‘Gauber High Pasture, Ribblehead – an interim report’ in R A Hall (ed.)
Viking Age York and the North. CBA Research Report no. 27, pp. 21-25.
King, A. 1978b. ‘Ribblehead’ Current Archaeology 6, 38-41.
King, A, 2004. ‘Post-Roman upland architecture in the Craven Dales and the dating
evidence’ in J Hines, A Lane and M Redknap (eds.) Land, sea and home. Leeds: Maney, pp.
335-44.
King, A. and Simpson, M. 2011. ‘A review of the land use and settlement of the Ingleborough
massif throughout the prehistoric and Romano – British periods’ in R Martlew (ed.)
Prehistory in the Yorkshire Dales. Recent research and future prospects. York: PLACE and
Kettlewell: Yorkshire Dales Landscape Research Trust, pp. 22-36.
Moorhouse, S, 2003. ‘Medieval Yorkshire: a rural landscape for the future’ in T G Manby, S
Moorhouse and P Ottaway (eds.) The archaeology of Yorkshire. An assessment at the
beginning of the 21st century. Yorkshire Archaeological Society Occasional Paper No. 3, pp.
181-214.
Newman, R, 2005. ‘Farmers and fields: developing a research agenda for post-medieval
agrarian society and landscape’ Post-Medieval Archaeology 39 (2), pp. 205-14.
Newman, R (ed.), 2008. Flowing through time. The evolution of the Ribble Valley. Lancaster:
Oxford Archaeological Unit.
Raistrick, A and Holmes P, 1962. ‘ Archaeology of Malham Moor’ Field Studies 1 (4), pp. 73-
100.
Roberts, B K, 1993. ‘Some relict landscapes in Westmorland: a reconsideration’ The
Archaeological Journal 150, pp. 433-55.
Ryan, M.J. 2013. ‘Conquest, reform and the making of England’ in N.J. Higham and M.J.
Ryan (eds.) The Anglo-Saxon world. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, pp.
284-322.
Silvester, R, 2010. ‘Abandoning the uplands: depopulation among dispersed settlements in
western Britain’ in C Dyer and R Jones (eds.) Deserted villages revisited. Hatfield: University
of Hertfordshire Press, pp. 140-61.
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Thomas, G, 2012. ‘The prehistory of medieval farms and villages: from Saxons to
Scandinavians’ in N Christie and P Stamper (eds.) Medieval rural settlement. Britain and
Ireland, AD 800-1600. Oxford: Windgather Press, pp. 43-62.
White, R, 2002. The Yorkshire Dales. A landscape through time. Ilkley: Great Northern
Books.
Wrathmell, S, 2012. ‘Northern England: exploring the character of medieval rural
settlements’ in N Christie and P Stamper (eds.) Medieval rural settlement. Britain and
Ireland, AD 800-1600. Oxford: Windgather Press, pp. 249-69.
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